Wanna Tweet in North Korea? It’s Not Cheap

The Koryolink cellphone rental booth at Pyongyang Airport in North Korea.

One nugget of news that created a little buzz last week among the North Korea-watching community was word that foreigners would soon be able to get 3G Internet connections on mobile devices while in the country, possibly as early as this week.

The announcement came shortly after North Korea said it would allow foreigners to bring in their mobile phones and rent SIM cards provided by Koryolink, a North Korean joint venture with Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding SAE.

North Koreans, meanwhile, won’t get any kind of access to the outside world on their phones – at least not on the official network. But the change does mean those that travel to the country should be able to post messages to social networking services in real-time while visiting the tourist sites, correspond via email, have video chats with people outside the country and generally feel less like they’re going into an information black hole.

Advertisement

One question that has been answered since the announcement is how much North Korea plans to charge visitors for Internet access. China’s Xinhua news agency reported over the weekend a breakdown of costs based on information from a Koryolink technician.

The intial ‘set-up’ cost to enable mobile devices to connect to Koryolink’s network is 75 euros for a USB modem or 150 euros for a SIM card, according to the report. Then the charges for data usage range from 150 euros for 2 gigabytes to 400 euros for 10 gigabytes.

The 2 gigabyte package appears to be the cheapest option available, meaning visitors would face a total bill of 225 euros, or around $300, if using a USB modem. Compare that with the unlimited data roaming charges in South Korea of around $5/day and it’s not hard to see who’s doing the price gouging. Blame it on the lack of competition, perhaps.

The Xinhua report suggests that the service is primarily targeted at those that are in the country for extended periods, so it’s possible the charges could be made more easy to stomach for travelers.

“Since the number of foreign residents here are limited, we will try to get more permission from the Korean security side to launch more services for short time tourists coming here for travel,” the technician is quoted as saying.

In the meantime, those wanting to post photos of their ‘rare glimpse into North Korea’ while in the country will have to be prepared to fork out handsomely for the privilege.